Kimber quality (lack of)

[chiefdave]

Picked this up as part of a swap and the quality doesn't measure up any way near to the Kimber target rifle I own. Fit and finish is poor and the 2 Kimber mags provided are hard to latch in empty and next to impossible with ammo (Colt branded mags will install like a hot knife thru butter). Accuracy is on par with a well worn GI 1911. What happened at Kimber? Did they hire the Raven and Lorcin production staff?

 

[Echo40]

I honestly don't know. Kimber seems to have worse hit or miss quality control than Remington these days and the fit and finish on some of their 1911s is so lazy that they look like Taurus 1911s, only twice the price and with a different logo.

 

[505Gibbs]

I believe if you do a Google search you'll find that their quality has generally been sub-par for more than a bit of time.
Too many new offerings in order to keep up sales. They seem to advertise an awfully lot which does nothing to conserve funds[I know it helps sales??].
A once excellent 'name' from the 80's gone sour.

 

[sceva]

The Original Kimber of Oregon made some great higher grade and now collectable .22 Rimfire rifles, and some equally nice centerfires. Unfortunately, they ceased to exist in 1989.

Kimber of America is another story, they like to claim the old Co as part of their history but they were riding coattails when they did.

Kimber of America did have a very nice .22 Rimfire rifle of their own but of a different design. They stread out into centerfires and 1911's and now revolvers. While quality can be very good and the firearms a great value it is my understanding that it is unfortunately very hit of miss. It is my understanding that it was the quality issues that resulted in them dropping the Rimfire rifles.

By the way, the rifle below is in my opinion the REAL KIMBER, It is a Kimber of Oregon S-Series Supergrade .22 Long Rifle. I was it's caretaker for a while but now it resides elsewhere

 

[The Norseman]

Kimberness

I have really looked over the New Kimber Revolvers.
Fit and Finish is excellent.

Maybe Kimber is concentrating too much on their
Revolvers and taking for granted sells of the 1911s.

I pass on their 1911s, because when I look at them
I am over whelmed by how many models there are.

When Kimber gets into "Big Bore" Revolvers maybe
I will be more interested in Kimber.

 

[boatbum101]

I can only comment on their 1911's . The Series 1 were pretty good . Series II have been a different story . Very little hand fitting , short chambered barrels , poor quality small parts . Slides & frames have generally been good . If one's going to spend that kind of money on a production gun , personally I'd go with Dan Wesson . Even the new Colts are better quality . I personally sent a Gold Match Series II back 8X & it still was not right . Kept the slide & frame , fitted all new parts , Kart barrel / bushing & new sights . Now it's a decent gun . Seems they'd much rather fix it under warranty if they have to rather than build one right to begin with . For that reason they'll never see my $'s again . Granted some have gotten lucky & are happy with their purchase . Like most things in life YMMV .

 

[Grayfox]

Kimber is kinda like Glock. Its all about the name. The original Kimbers were excellent pistols and that's where they got their reputation and name recognition. But that was a long time ago. Kimber for many years now is nothing more than a seriously overpriced gamble. It might work great or it might not work at all.
I've seen more Kimbers choke on the firing line than any other brand of 1911. I have no interest in owning one.

 

[Jebus35745]

Hope as time passes the K6 holds up and has no major problems. Just bought one used and is my carry gun now. Larry

 

[.38SuperMan]

I bought 5 new Kimber 1911’s in the last year and every one are excellent in fit, finish and 100% reliability. My new Colt LW Commander isn’t even close in fit and finish with the Kimbers. I also purchased a new Springfield 1911 and it’s close in finish to the Kimbers and way ahead of the colt.

 

[Sevens]

In my experience, a Kimber 1911 would be a decent gun - IF - it were priced where it belongs. From the guns I've shot and experienced, these would be a good buy if priced in the Rock Island Armory kind of price point. A little more expensive than a Tisas or ATI, but absolutely no more money than a Ruger SR-1911 or S&W E-Series.

On the plus side, I find Kimber 1911's to be very visually attractive, they are beautiful to look at. I'll also say that out of the box, these seem to be accurate 1911 pistols.

The quality is suspect. The warranty and service experience is also lacking.

For similar money, there are better choices.

 

[gnystrom]

The only two Kimbers I have ever owned was a Ultra Carry CDP II and that 3" barreled gun never has a misfeed and I shot thousands of mixed brass handloads every year. I sold all my 1911's and my other Kimber is a K6S which buries every one of my S&W snubbies in fit and finish. HOWEVER I shoot my 640's a bit better due to grip shape and trigger angle. As more grip options appear for the Kimber, I will be selling all S&W snubbies except my 340PD.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I own three Kimber pistols. The newest is over two years old. One I bought used, older than that. I have never had any trouble with them. That being said I have seen a lot of comments here and elsewhere decrying their current level of quality control.

 

[ben_g1]

I've had a Kimber Micro 9 for about 3+ years now. After the break-in period, no problems unless more than around 150 rounds without a quick field cleaning. Fires many different brands and weights of bullets with no problems.

 

[gman51]

WOW Another beat up on Kimber thread. Seems to me as usual a few lemons were made into really sour grapes smeared on the maker's name plate. I totally agree that having a poorly made gun is top of the pet peeve list. Thankfully we don't come across to many of them.

I seldom hear the percentages of lemons found out of the huge number of guns made. Yep Kimber does do a huge amount of advertising which is probably one reason why they sell so many guns.

I bought a Kimber 1911 eight years ago and I seriously doubt I will ever sell it. It fits my hand like it was made for me, the trigger is 1911 quality, can shake the gun all day and not hear a rattle, accuracy is way better than I expected from a 3" barrel. Shake my Kimber then shake a Wilson Combat. Neither guns rattled when I had shaken them. I could shoot my Kimber just as well as I could the WC. I sold the WC.

Basically Kimber is far from inferior quality even today. Look at how many guns S&W has had lemon quality with in the recent years. One lemon here or there doesn't sour the whole name.

Funny how these threads seem to have more positive feedback from Kimber owners than those agreeing that Kimbers are not what they used to be.

To each their own. Some people just seem to find the needle buried in the haystack. I can understand being pricked isn't an enjoyable experience. I totally can understand that.

Some people are fan boys till they sell then afterward they don't have one thing good to say about their once praised gun. I don't see myself doing that with my Kimber if I ever had to sell it. If it was inferior quality I would have sold it a long time ago.

It seems Kimber gets a good deal for positive free exposure from the beat up Kimber threads.

 

[Fishinfool]

Have owned nine of the later, NY based Kimber rifles and 1911's. Not a lemon in the bunch. Guess I just got lucky...

Larry

 

[Mdclinks]

While working(currently) at a FFL with a range I can say that I've noticed a few recurring issues with a few firearms brands & models. The frequent offenders from Kimber I've seen have been in Micro series lines and the base line Custom II two tone models. The micro series seems to generally be fixed by reshaping the feed ramps. The issues in the two tone Custom II line seem to be rather sporadic in the responses Kimber gives to customers upon return. Kimber's customer service generally is pretty good once you can finally get them to respond which seems to be the hard part.

My father has a Ultra Carry II that was produced around 2005-2006(I believe) that has been nothing but reliable and astonishingly accurate. The only issue is that it gets a bit temperamental after a few hundred rounds without cleaning, failure to feeds because the feed ramp is too dirty.

 

[Bullet Bob]

The fit, finish and design of Kimber of Oregon rifles was outstanding, function was sometimes problematic. That, and free spending by the founder helped them go out of business.

Kimber of NY built their business on very well made 1911's with all the features you used to have to send to a custom gunsmith for, and revolutionized that part of the business. They were very well made; since the rough frame and slide forgings were made by S&W, they should have been. Wish I could find the old Guns or Handguns magazine wherein a writer, upon hearing they were going to enter the 1911 market, said he'd believe it when he saw it. I assume he has.

The Kimber of NY rimfires were exceptional in every way. The market didn't buy enough, so they stopped making them. Simple business.

 

[Loyaljeeper]

I just recently sold a 2014-2015 Ultra Carry II that was excellent. I was in a shop the other day and a friend showed me a new Kimber with a red grip on one side and a brown grip on the other.

 

[MetalMan]

My Series I Kimber Ultra Carry has been serving me well for 20 years now (purchased new in 1999] with nary a problem and is my cold weather EDC...counting my blessings.

 

[2sharp2]

I think a lot of the bad Kimber press came from the now discontinued Solo model, also some of the Micro 380's and Micro 9 models have had some issues corrected by Kimber and some owners neglected the recommended clean, lube, ammo guidelines.

I don't own a Solo, Micro380 or Micro9.

I do own 16 different Kimber 1911's and 4 different Kimber Rifles NONE of them are lemons. Shame I hadn't been told how bad Kimbers are before I bought the first one years ago.

To be fair I also own 2 Dan Wesson's and 2 Wilson Combats. I enjoy and like all of them.

Even have 3 of the Colt 1911's people talk about.